A. Situation Analysis
Description of the disaster
Brazil is experiencing its largest outbreak of yellow fever in decades; the outbreak is mainly occurring in the states of Minas Gerais and Espiritu Santo, which have the largest number of confirmed cases. However, the disease has spread to other regions in the country, affecting 407 municipalities. On 13 January 2017, the Ministry of Health declared a public health emergency in the state of Minas Gerais.
According to the last epidemiological report from the Ministry of Health dated 31 May 2017, the distribution of cases and deaths have doubled and expanded since this Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) was published; this report further states that 3,240 suspected cases of wild-type yellow fever were reported, of which 792 were confirmed (24.5 per cent), 519 are still being studied (16 per cent), and 1,929 (59.5 per cent) were ruled out (see chart), with a fatality rate of 34.5 per cent. In total, 83.1 per cent of the cases involved men between 16 and 65 years of age.